How a Trailer Park Changed My Life!
Let’s shift gears a little and talk about me for a change. Sure, it sounds a little selfish, but I suspect you might enjoy this little departure from the norm. 
A few years ago, life was good. My wife, Michele, was making decent income from a large auto manufacturer and had full benefits for the whole family. I was working as a computer engineer for another large health care company while also running the vending and Internet businesses. The kids were happy and healthy, and we had recently purchased a brand new condo. We knew Michele’s income would soon come to an end due to a work related injury, but she had always dreamed of owning a catering business. In trying to plan ahead, we took the plunge and invested in her dream.
Fast forward to today. Her steady income is gone, but we still have full benefits until 2010. I’m still working as a computer engineer and the side businesses are still alive and kicking. The catering business took a MUCH larger investment than we ever planned on, and is still struggling to make money after almost four years.
Since getting married in 1990, we’ve been able to invest almost everything she earned, and my income paid the bills. The new condo sort of changed all that because our monthly living expenses went up considerably. Life is much easier in the condo, but boy is it expensive!
With the catering business struggling along, and her without an income to speak of, my income was barely covering our lifestyle. Unfortunately, our investments have had to stop for the time being, and paying the monthly bills has become a chore I don’t look forward to.
Why am I telling you all this? Because I hope someone out there can relate to the predicament we were in. Sometimes we get a little too comfortable and then life throws us a curve ball. Now, we could choose to sit around complaining and hoping for some windfall of good fortune, but that isn’t likely to happen. Instead, we realized the need to make a drastic change.
Needless to say, the condo went up for sale. In the mean time, we looked far and wide for an economical replacement. Since we didn’t want to move the kids to another school district, our prospects were somewhat limited. We looked for cheaper condos but had no luck. We looked for homes in the sub-$100,000 price range, but they were all too small, or in terrible shape. Buying a lot and building something new put us right in the same situation.
Finally, at my wife’s urging, we looked into a trailer park. Yea, I know, I said the same thing! I was very resistant to this idea at first because of the stigma associated with trailer park living. Am I phony and vain? Sure, I admit it! Moving from a $176,000 condo with a clubhouse and pool, to a trailer park was just not an option. For me, it meant I had somehow failed.
Anyway, a standard trailer was just too small for our family of four (six if you count the dogs). There were a couple really nice modular homes in this particular park, and we were impressed by those. So, we marched on down to the local modular home dealer and started looking. Within a week, we had made a decision. We placed $100 down to reserve a lot in the park, and picked out a new modular home. Just after finalizing the details, we also received an offer on the condo. The wheels of change were in motion…
Let me break down the financials to illustrate what swallowing our pride and making a little sacrifice meant to our bottom line. Our condo was purchased almost three years ago for $156,000. Our mortgage payment, taxes and association dues came to just under $1,400 per month. After only a month on the market, our condo sold for $176,000.
Our new 4-bedroom, 2-bath modular home is 26 feet wide by 60 feet long. Basically the same square footage as the condo. After adding just about every deluxe option available, the base price on the modular ended up around $61,000.
Our lot rent will be $247 per month, which includes water, cable TV and some other incidentals. Taxes and insurance will run around $70 per month. This is some cheap living!
Are we making a smart move? I would say, emphatically, yes! Am I still struggling with the idea of living in a trailer park? Again, yes. However, in order stay on track with our aggressive investment plan, our goal of early retirement, and our desire to provide good college educations for the kids, I’d say this move is a darn prudent thing to do.
Wouldn’t you agree?
In closing, I’d like to encourage you to really look at where you are now and where you want to be in five or ten years. Do you like what you see? If you’re currently in a tight financial spot, do you see light at the end of the tunnel?
Don’t think your situation is hopeless, and certainly don’t think life is going to hand you a solution with a pretty bow around it. Take control of your circumstance, be willing to turn things upside down to see another perspective, and then take action to improve it.
If this stubborn fool can swallow his pride and take one for the team, then I think there might be something to learn from it. That is my sincere hope.
Feel free to drop me an email if you find yourself in a similar pickle and care to discuss it. Help and support is always just click or two away!
2004 UPDATE: My wife recently formed a partnership with a commercial developer and they opened a brand new restaurant and banquet hall in January. Yes, we’re still in the modular home and planning to finally look for our next new home sometime this year. From a financial perspective, I still think this was the smartest move we ever made. We’ve been living very well on my income and continuing to invest almost $1000 per month into our early retirement plan!
2005 UPDATE: The restaurant partnership fell apart in late 2004 which left us with even more debt because we couldn’t afford to fight the developer in court. We swallowed our pride and moved on. We did purchase a new home (built in the 70’s but new to us) and my wife is still running her catering business. We’re still investing more than 10% of our total income and have been focusing everything else on eliminating the debt that had accumulated as a result of the business and our higher living expenses for a while. Michele did lose her medical & dental benefits sooner than expected, so I had to pick up benefits through my employer. Now THAT hurts because the benefits stink and are quite expensive. Unfortunately, the modular home is still up for sale and has been on the market for about 8 months. Nothing seems to be moving in the real estate market around here. Hey, it’s just another of life’s little curve balls. We keep on catching them and finding creating ways to throw them back!
2006 UPDATE: We bought a piece of property, sold the house in December 2005, and moved the modular home out of the trailer park (
) to the new property on a full basement. Construction is just finishing up (early March) so we’re still a little busy. Also discovered the power of proper budgeting recently and things are definitely looking up!
July 2006 UPDATE: Construction finished up in March and we’ve been busy landscaping and trying to get grass to grow. Check out this recent picture! (it will open in a new window)
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